Here's some feedback/questions about the service:
- When I filled in the flight, I selected "cancelled". When I got to the final claim filing step, it asked how many hours my arrival was delayed, with the highest tier being 4+ hours. This was confusing to me and made me double check that I selected cancelled and not delayed. If the text said here "how much did your flight cancellation delay your arrival?" or something similar, the process would have been much clearer.
- After completing the claim filing, I got a message that I wasn't eligible for compensation. The first two sentences talked about why I wasn't eligible due to not being on a flight between EU countries. The end of the paragraph said that reimbursements aren't given for flights cancelled due to weather, safety, strikes, etc. I would be far less confused by the service if a simple answer was given here instead (don't mention the EU stuff if you're trying to reimburse Americans, and hopefully just put a single statement like "Sorry, you are not eligible for reimbursement because your flight was cancelled due to weather".
Another question related not so much to the website but just the reimbursement service. For the particular IAH->LAX trip I was hoping to get reimbursed for, I had a Saturday flight delayed then cancelled, then got reschedule to Sunday morning, which got cancelled, and then got rescheduled to Monday (which actually went through). Could I attempt to get reimbursed for both cancellations or just one?
0 to 1 hour arrival delay = No compensation.
1 to 4 hour arrival delay = 200% of one-way fare (but no more than $650).
Over 4 hours arrival delay = 400% of one-way fare (but no more than $1,300).
In the end I managed to weasel my way onto a different flight to a nearby airport, and I still have no idea what I should have asked for if I had actually had to wait that long. I was pretty outraged that they didn't offer me any other compensation for all the time I would have lost because they chose to cancel an underbooked flight.
Eventually we got the EU paperwork and filled it in meticulously. And to our surprise €600 each arrived within a few weeks.
As soon as the use of these type of apps become the norm the flight prices will probably go up a bit to compensate. Or maybe the airlines will be less cavalier about cancelling flights.
Presumably both these things will happen, the former as a consequence of the latter.
The latter is technically a limited power of attorney too.
Edit: The following is from their EU POA form:
This power of attorney shall become effective on the day of signature and shall expire if revoked by me/us in writing. This document shall be construed and interpreted as a general power of attorney and my/our Agent shall have full authority to act on my/our behalf in relation to my/our claims resulting from disruptions of flights pursuant to EU Regulation 261/04. I/we furthermore grant my/our Agent the authority to:
*(1) undertake all appropriate legal – judicial and extrajudicial – measures appropriate to collect my/our claim(s) from the airline until the claim is fully settled;*
*(2) collect and receive payments on my/our behalf.*http://www.expertlaw.com/library/estate_planning/power_of_at...
While perhaps impossible, I'd also love an app that would overall just help me get back ontrack for flights and rebooked somehow.
I realize I can go to the gate agent (who invariably now has 50 other people in line, and are working with computers that seem to require 1000 key presses to even look up the most basic thing) or call the airline (similar situation)- but it seems that the best results only happen for you if they aren't super busy and like you.
Oftentimes I've found that there is some 'problem solving' that can occur to get you back on track.
For example: I missed my flight to BOS to AUS for SXSW one year. Initially it was a 'the next available flight is in a week' situation, which clearly wasn't going to work for me. We went through some problem solving however and found a solution that totally worked. They booked me on a flight instead to DFW or SAT (can't remember which), with a layover in CLT. I went on Twitter and found a friend driving to SXSW who was going to pick me up then and take me there from the alternate nearby city. They also put me on standby for a flight from CLT to AUS. The standby totally worked out, and I got to Austin only an hour later than originally anticipated.
However, if the person at the gate/ticketing doesn't feel like helping you then frequently you're just kinda screwed. I've had dozens of situations like this where I was able to convince them to try something 'different' with me and it worked out well.
If an App helped me automatically rebook and find my options that I'd otherwise have to go beg a customer service agent for... that would be awesome. If then I'm on a connecting flight that something is going to mess up- I could probably have my plans made by the time I'm off the first plane.
Very impressive.
For now, at least, this sounds like a problem where human involvement is really useful.
Cranky Concierge, as someone mentioned below, is one great option.
Another is paying the ~$50 for lounge access for the day, to talk to the reservations agent at the desk inside the lounge. They're usually much more experienced, much more likely to spend the time to do creative routings, and haven't just had to deal with possibly several hundred angry passengers. In one case with United, I stepped out of line to speak to the gate agent after my flight was delayed several hours and paid to go in the lounge. I wound up getting the last confirmed seat on the next flight, whereas the person just in front of me in line had to go on the standby list (which she didn't clear). That $50 was _well_ worth it.
I've never had cause to hire them myself though.
I was pretty impressed with the service.
I forse a day when Google Now or Siri detects your flight delay and presents you with rebooking options via a push alert.
I'm a huge fan of tripit to parse my emails, and add all my travel details to my google calendar for me, but I happen to have never missed a flight and needed their service's help.
If you don't want to bother with walking to the airline reps in the airport or you are not comfortable interacting with people, AirHelp may be useful.
My wife tried later, and after another hour of "no, that's not acceptable" finally got a later flight with a five hour stop in Washington, DC. Alaska Air at least gave us exit rows for the ride home. Granted, this wasn't a "missed a connecting flight" scenario, but the airline's lack of helpfulness does not give me confidence they would act differently. Man, for the good old days when you'd call or walk to the desk, hear "just a moment, sir <clickety, clickety, clickety> there, I have you on the next flight. I put you in first class for the trouble."
On a side note, I find it ironic that the only airline in SEA that was cancelling flights due to snow was the one with the word "Alaska" in its name.
A company that could do the fighting for me could be helpful. Even if they didn't produce a profit for me, I'd consider using it out of principle.
Airlines aren't responsible for weather delays, full stop.
(Generally, none of these apply if the airline can claim extraordinary circumstances such as weather)
- Flights Originating/Transiting/Ending in the EU:
1. You are entitled to cash compensation for sufficiently long delays (2-4 hours depending on flight duration) 2. You are entitled to cash compensation (for the inconvenience) and reroute (whenever you want) for a cancellation or cash compensation (for the inconvenience) and a ticket refund
If delay is long enough, you are entitled to meals and refreshments, if over-night, to accomodation.
- Flights in the US
AFAIK, you pretty much are only entitled to something if you get denied boarding on an overbooked flight.
However, it's always best to just walk up to an airline agent, putting a smile on your face and explaining the situation. They have nothing against you and only help, but you greatly reduce their inclination to do so by making it their personal fault.
AirHelp should really include Hans Rosling’s video on how blaming yourself really improves service. I swear, I remember him explaining that in one of his speeches (he usually talks about developing countries). I can’t find it back, but he is perfect at it.
I used to have 40 round trip flights a year not so long ago, and I'd say that there was probably only one or two flights that were canceled during that duration of time. Occasionally I'd volunteer to get off a flight to grab a voucher for reimbursement, but most of the time I only got a hotel or other small voucher for a flight cancellation.
I understand that Europe provides more compensation for technical problems, but are flight cancellations really that common of an occurrence for non-frequent fliers?
United's official rules: http://flyerguide.com/index.php/S*UAL/DENIED-IDB
How I wish AirHelp was available in the US :(
The airport search fields should recognize airport codes. If I type in "bru", Brussels airport should be the first, not the third in the list. If I do not choose from the suggestion box, but tab into the next field, it should fill the field with the correct selection.
